


there i go crossing the cosmo

by thearcherballet



Category: Little Mix (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Bodyguard AU, FBI Agent Louis, FBI Special Agent Harry, Hacker Zayn, M/M, Scientist Niall, scientist liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-08 07:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6844609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thearcherballet/pseuds/thearcherballet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Special Agent Harry Styles of the FBI was sent to Houston to help Niall Horan, PhD, at NASA, he hadn’t realized how way in over his head he was going to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	there i go crossing the cosmo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darlingjustdont](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingjustdont/gifts).



> hello friends! happy birthday sasha!
> 
> so i was telling sasha that i wanted to try to write a spy au for narry, but somehow ended up with this idea that Harry should be an FBI special agent and Niall a scientist at NASA.
> 
> and i decided to put my watching too much Criminal Minds and Quantico to good use by writing this!
> 
> and giving it to sasha for her birthday.
> 
> i want to thank sasha for inspiring me to keep writing.
> 
> ana and court, thank u for reading over my story! ur angels!
> 
> and pixie! thank u for being literally jesus and transforming my okay fic into an All Right one. bless u<3
> 
> anyways *nacho libre voice* let's get down to the nitty gritty:
> 
> there are guns involved though none is fired, there is stalking and anonymous death threats to my poor poor smol irish son, a panic attack, some swearing, and lots of flirting and maybe a short amount of time kissing.
> 
> the title of the fic comes from Tinashe's "Crossing The Cosmo". tinashe always has amazing songs about space.  
>  ps: i made a playlist to go along with the fic http://8tracks.com/thearcherballet/there-i-go-crossing-the-cosmo  
> enjoy the story!

When Harry got assigned to go to Houston, he’d thought it was a joke.

“Don’t bother unpacking, you’re leaving for Houston right now,” his superior, Louis Tomlinson, had said upon his arrival in LA.

He had to admit, he had a pretty sweet job at the Bureau’s LA office. He was slowly making his way to the top, but he actually liked being in the field taking down bad guys. He thought he was past security detailing, but then the file rained from above like a bucket full of ice. (And he knew that feeling. He’d made Gemma throw it at him from her balcony).

And yet, there he was, parked in the staff parking lot of the Space Center, staring at a temporary ID that basically said “Hi! My name is Harry Styles, and I’m here to step in front of a bullet for a Space Nerd, if necessary.”

Seriously, he didn't understand why anyone would want to attack his subject.

He took out the thin folder he was given on Niall Horan, double PhD.

The man was 25, had graduated Salutatorian in his high school class, gone on to graduate Suma Cum Laude as a Double Major in Physics and Planetary Sciences with a minor in Mathematics, continued on to get two Masters and a PhD from Oxford and Caltech simultaneously. He’d have to ask later on how the hell he did that when he’d be interning at CERN and NASA in the summers.

This guy must be completely mad.

There wasn't much on how he was psychologically, just copies of letters of recommendation from multiple professors and staff members saying how much of a hard worker Niall was and attesting to his genius. Not much to go on, really.

Harry’s superiors said  _ he _ was a genius, and you didn't see  _ him  _ working at NASA. Actually, scratch that, he was now.

He sighed and ran a hand through his locks and got out of his rented fucking Prius. He missed zooming around LA with his vintage car right then.

As soon as he stepped into the Center, he felt incredibly dwarfed due to the magnitude of the building.

Quantico looked like a small liberal arts college compared to this place.

At reception they had him go through all the security procedures, giving him his actual ID badge with the special color for security personnel. The guard in charge of the metal detectors almost asked him to take a picture with Harry’s gun by the awed look on his face. There must be something in the water in Houston.

The information clerk, who mostly looked bored and counting down the hours left until she got to go home, directed him to Dr. Horan’s office.

“Good luck finding him,” she said after he started walking away. He took that to mean that maybe he would be holed in his office and scared of his life.

Harry stepped into the elevator to Niall’s floor allowing himself to feel composed and professional enough. He’d killed a man, for fuck’s sake. Well, several. Which wasn’t something Harry should boast about, but merely looked at factually. This guy was a brain, and a blonde one at that too. When Louis sent him to Houston, he said he owed Niall a favor which was why he’d assigned Harry to the scientist.

The doors opened and he sighed into the hallway.

The vastness of the hallway again startled him, but only until he saw the two women speaking furious Spanish at each other as they hauled a giant contraption down the carpeted floor. He thought he caught a hint of a Colombian accent from one of them.

He pressed forward, ignoring the looks from two older men in argyle sweaters and archaic glasses who’d been hunched over an iPad.

Harry reached the office 44X, checking the shiny title card below it saying “Niall Horan, PhD, Head Researcher and Staff Assistant”.

He huffed, just a sludge intimidated, until he remembered he knew how to shoot through two people at once, and knocked.

The door gave in, already opened, and he peeked inside.

The office, though as messy as one might think when dealing with a mad rocket scientist, with telltale equations on whiteboards that Harry couldn’t even dare to guess at the meaning, was actually empty. No blond men of Irish descent in sight.

Harry entered the room, hoping the man wasn't actually hiding inside.

Upon closer inspection, Horan’s mess was actually quite tidy. There were just too many papers littering the desk, but they were clearly organized. One pile was proposals for experiments Harry didn't understand and hoped didn't have to do with aliens. Another was actually full of scientific papers, towering one atop the other in a scary pattern that Harry thought by one small shove could go toppling down.

Horan’s walls were also covered with a mixture of rock band posters and blown up pictures of what seemed to be either random asteroids or nebulae. There was a small picture of a smudged shining sphere tacked to the wall with a smiley face stuck next to it on a Post-It note.

He had snuck into his swivel chair and was trying to guess Niall’s password for his desktop when he heard him. “What the fuck do you think you're doing, mate?”

Harry wheeled around at the accusing voice, feeling only slightly guilty for being quite snoopy. “Sorry, man.”

Niall Horan stood at the doorway, staring at him with a searching expression. Almost as if expecting Harry to start explaining how the Pythagorean Theorem worked in outer space or something.

“You're Agent Styles, right?”

Harry decided to ease the tension with a smile. “The one and only, though if we're being specific it should be ‘Special Agent Harry Edward Styles’. You're Mr. Horan, am I correct? Or do you prefer Doctor? Maybe Niall Horan, PhD?”

To Harry’s relief, Niall responded with a grin. “Whichever makes you feel less intimidated. But if we're being pedantic about it, it's Doctor Niall James Horan. Didn't get two doctorate degrees for nothing.”

Harry had to actually go around the desk when Niall reached his hand forward to let Harry shake it. Niall gave a firm squeeze like he’d met too many people and knew what was comfortable.

That was when Harry could actually appreciate what Niall was wearing. A loose-fitted white button up half-sleeve adorned his pale skin, a pair of wooden specs sat on the bridge of his nose with his blue eyes glinting behind them.

Niall sat down in his desk chair, letting Harry choose whether to remain standing or grab a seat across him. He brought his feet up to rest on the desk and laid back on his spinning chair.

Harry almost laughed when he saw the small white stars patterned across his dark socks. A sharply dressed astrophysicist had to have something up his sleeves.

“So, Tommo sent you here? That's a bit of an exaggeration on his part.”

Harry had to frown. “I assume you mean my superior, Louis Tomlinson. Death threats to a high ranking federal officer are no joke. Which reminds me, I need to sweep your office thoroughly to see if it's been bugged, Mr. Horan.”

“All the offices here are bugged,” Niall brushed off both the comment and the title slip from Harry. “Some people don't know and would prefer not to know. It's your Bureau and the NSA who are in charge of that.”

“I still need to find them and make sure that someone isn't hacking their signal,” Harry tried in his most stern voice, which wasn't saying much.

“I can show you where they are.”

Niall proceeded to walk to the window that took up most of his wall and reached up in his tiptoes to point it out. “There's one there at the top, near the latch.”

Harry reached for it easily, almost feeling smug about the fact that he was taller than the scientist. He peered down at Niall, who scoffed and shook his head.

“The other one is under my desk.”

Harry went and crouched under the desk, taking the bug that was in the depths of it in left-side corner.

“Happy?” Niall said. He was leaning smugly against a small table that was pushed against the wall in front of his desk, the indoor plant in the middle of it swaying slightly. Harry went to stop it from toppling it, but spotted something strange within the leaves of it. He inserted his hand, coming up with a third bug that he brought to Niall’s eyesight.

At this, Niall slit his eyes at it and went to grab it but Harry brought it over his head.

“I’m happy  _ now _ .”

“I don’t understand,” Niall said ignoring Harry’s smug grin, his hands going instead to his head as he started pacing about the room. His icy eyes darted towards the door and he swiftly closed and locked it and whispered. “I’ve been sweeping this room for bugs every three days. I checked it this morning when I got here. There were only two.”

Harry needed to question Niall what brought on the sudden panic, but then he realized. “They must be inside the center,” Harry said. “Wait right here.” He placed his hands on the shoulders of the smaller man who just gave out a hollow laugh as if to say he wasn’t thinking about going anywhere at the moment.

Harry flitted about the office, searching through nooks and crannies to see if he could find something else. Something small, maybe.

And then, “Bingo!”

He extricated a miniature camera from within Niall’s bookshelves and showed it to Niall. Niall rushed towards him and took the camera before Harry realized it. “Hey!”

Niall placed it downwards on the desk and leaned closer to read the inscriptions on the back. “It’s handmade,” he said, stunned at the small artifact. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It transmits wirelessly, but it may have some memory in it unless it’s already been wiped remotely. I don’t know how to connect it to my computer either. But, I may know someone who can.”

“I could send it to Quantico, y’know.”

Niall gave him a pointed stare. “We have excellent hackers here.”

“Not as good as the FBI or NSA. I also have strings I could pull there.”

At some point Niall had to realize this was  _ Harry’s  _ investigation and that he was taking the reins.

“Special Agent Styles,” Niall said with a smile that immediately made Harry suspicious. “You should know that even though you probably can dismantle your gun and put it back together faster than I can recite the first 20 digits of pi, I'm the one in charge here, and I know what everybody in this whole facility is doing right now.” Harry stared at Niall, and seriously this man kept becoming more of an enigma as he continued. “I say this, because I know exactly what the techies are doing. And the head of them graduated with me.”

The trained FBI agent felt at a loss here. He needed to regain control of the situation, and he couldn't help but feel that Tomlinson had set him up to get him more humble.

He was going to let this one slide for a hot second. Mostly because he wanted to see the blond genius at work.

“What? No secret certification in hacking?” Harry said instead, allowing himself a small grin.

Apparently this helped Niall, who visibly relaxed more at the sign of freeing his reigns. “Coding and I don't do very well together. We're estranged friends. I can make a mean website, though.”

Niall’s eyes went back to the camera. He placed his thumbnail in his mouth, gnawing at it, and blinking incredibly fast. “Okay,” he said answering a question he posed in his head.

And then he was picking up the tiny camera and shoving it down in his pocket, as if it had personally offended him.

Besides the fact that it was used to spy on him without his consent.

He opened the office door and waved at Harry to follow him but stopped him at the doorway. “Don't say anything. No one here knows about my  _ situation  _ and I’d rather just have it under control.”

Harry understood that need. Having your whole life turned upside down by anonymous and specific death threats was disorienting and could cause a panic.

Niall and he were standing too close together and Harry’s face lit up with a smooth smile.

“Got it. Just showing the new guy around, then.”

Niall seemed momentarily taken aback by the easiness of Harry’s lie. Well, half lie. He did need to at least know where the bathroom was.

“Lying is the easiest part of the job, Doctor Horan. After you,” Harry said. He flourished his hand to let him lead the way and Niall started to walk.

As Niall went along the hallway, he greeted all the people he saw. It was fascinating seeing him transform under the public eye, making it obvious why he was in charge of staff. His capacity to remember each and every person in the facility was astounding; he even asked people about their pets and children.

Harry followed Niall with keen eyes, taking in the set in his shoulders that he guessed wasn't usually there. Yet, the man congenially conversed with his colleagues. He even told someone they could wait in his office so he could give them a research paper he thought they'd find interesting. After a few runs of chit chat, Harry noticed the same calculating gaze in Niall had when he first saw the agent in his office. He seemed to be taking in his coworkers’ intentions and deciding whether or not they were threatening Niall. Harry also noted the small flinch Niall made every time someone called his name.

When they pulled away from a conversation with a middle-aged Japanese man, Harry took the opportunity to lean towards Niall. “You don't have to introduce me to everyone, y’know. We're in a hurry.”

Niall huffed, still maintaining a jovial expression painted on his face. “I don't want to be rude.”

They entered the elevator and Niall waved at what appeared to be an intern until the doors closed behind them and he pressed the floor button.

“Horan, your life is in danger. You're allowed to be rude. I know I’d be.” Harry tried for an appeasing tone and Niall nodded though he seemed a tad far away. For someone Harry only knew from a brown folder, he felt an unusual need to keep Niall as comfortable as possible.

The elevator dinged and Niall straightened himself right away, muttering “I hate elevators”. The office they headed to wasn't as lit as Niall’s was. The curtains were drawn and computers surrounded the lab. In the middle of the room, a long table with pieces of tech and nuts and bolts and even more things that made Harry want to either run away or punch someone in the face.

There were a handful of people typing into their Macs with headphones plugged into them. None of them looked up at them as they passed by towards one of darker corners of the room.

A man hunched over a bulky laptop furiously tapped on keys and whispered “Fuck!” under his breath. Niall tapped him and the guy took off his headset to pay attention to the slightly frazzled man in front of him.

“Niall,” he frowned and looked at Harry distrusting. Harry merely grinned. “And bodyguard, I guess. You rarely come down here, so what’s up?”

“Zayn, this is Harry. Styles, this is Zayn Malik,” Niall said hurriedly. He sat next to him and leaned towards his friend (colleague? It was hard to say when Niall was friendly with everyone), sticking him with a hard stare. “Can you trust me?”

Zayn rolled his eyes. “Always.”

Niall nodded and looked back at Harry, who just shrugged. He couldn't do much without a background check.

“He's a Special Agent from the FBI. He's helping me catch someone that's been sending me death threats and apparently bugged my office today.”

Zayn stared at him disbelievingly and then directed his stare at Harry. Harry groaned and took out his FBI badge to show it to him. It always worked faster that way.

Zayn’s eyebrows shot up and went back to look at Niall. “What the  _ fuck?”  _ he said harshly.

“I brought the bugs with me so you can look at them with Harry. And there's a camera in my pocket that Harry found in my office. Quite creepy.”

At this, Zayn’s eyes glinted in challenge. “Is it wireless?”

Niall nodded and got up to walk towards the work table. Zayn brought his computer with him and rummaged through the mess in order to find a cable that he then connected to the techy monster.

“You must be pretty free to come running to Houston to solve a stalker case,” Zayn directed at Harry. Maybe it was Harry who felt it was more of a dig than an observation. 

Before Harry could respond that he’d come back from a top secret mission (retrieving information from an important asset in Budapest) and been abruptly sent to the space center, Niall answered. “His boss owed me a favor.”

Zayn muttered something under his breath that sounded like “Don't they always”.

Niall placed the camera face down again on the surface, playing with his sideburns nervously.

“This is actually pretty cool, if it weren't for the, y’know,” Zayn said and Niall gave out a giggle that didn't sound right coming from him.

No one had to add that they couldn’t actually talk about it, given the fact that Harry had the bugs in his pockets. And they were in public, Harry couldn’t forget that.

Zayn screwed open the back of the camera and the rest of the process went right over Harry’s head. He was so out of place there. He knew he should’ve taken the hacking courses at Quantico.

Zayn’s focus centered on the computer and he started typing some code into it.

“I can’t access the video files inside the chip, they’re pretty protected. And yet, I could piggyback from the encryption code to see where the fuck it’s being sent to,” Zayn huffs out a laugh. “Of course.”

Niall stepped behind him to look at the screen. “Oh shit.”

Harry went to do the same but he couldn’t be given a chance before Zayn said “The IP address is from here, inside NASA. The encryption was hard, so it might be difficult to find where exactly the computer it was being sent to was in.”

Niall was shaking and Harry held on to his arm, the need to reassure him once more engulfing his senses. Protocol was swiftly going out the window. “Niall, do you have any enemies, and I need you to think hard about it.”

But the man’s gaze was going unfocused, his mind going far away and not paying attention to Harry.

Zayn looked equally as panicked at seeing Niall freak out. “Is he having a panic attack?”

Harry tugged Niall out of the room, Zayn following behind and leaving his contraptions in the lab.

He opened the emergency staircase and asked Niall if he could walk up the stairs, only receiving a small whimper. Zayn looked at Harry exasperated. “Can’t you carry him?”

Harry decided not to think whether or not he could and took Niall in his arms like a baby. He felt like a firefighter going up the flights of stairs as fast as he could with the weight of Niall in his lanky arms. Good thing he never missed the gym.

Zayn opened a door for Harry, and he realized they were on the roof, among antennae and dangerous looking power supplies. He placed Niall on the ground and kneeled before him, Zayn doing the same but beside Niall.

“He’s claustrophobic, that’s why he said he hated elevators. I think that’s why he doesn’t go down to your lab as much,” Harry panted. At Zayn’s sharp look, Harry realized that he knew that. Zayn’s confused look from when they’d entered his lab was making sense right about then.

Harry took Niall’s face in his hands, recognizing how fragile he looked for once and started talking in a softer voice. “Niall, hey, doctor Horan, I need you to listen to my voice. It’s me, you’re safe.”

Niall’s blue eyes darted towards his own green ones. He was heaving. “I need you to listen to me, and try to match my own breathing, okay?”

Zayn laid his hand on Niall’s back and started caressing him in smooth circles, nodding at Harry.

Harry started taking deep inhales, bringing Niall’s shaking hands to his chest so he could feel the slow rise and fall of Harry’s chest.

“Hey, you’re okay. You’re outside, the sky’s pretty clear, look at the clouds, if you want.”

Niall did look up, mouth slack as he counted the clouds he saw. He wheezed out a laugh, looking marveled at the sight of them.

“I hate this,” Niall finally said with a small smile. Harry noticed Niall blinking away some stray tears and he felt his chest give up.

“Hey,” he said hoarsely and Niall looked at him. His eyes were shining again, though mostly they looked sad. Harry dropped Niall’s hands from his chest and squeezed at them. “I’m gonna bust this shithead. You’re gonna go back to stargazing or whatever it is you do here. I’m gonna be a badass and you’re gonna swoon. I’ll catch you, though.”

Niall laughed then, a genuine watery laugh and Zayn hugged the man’s side while petting his hair.

Niall let go of Harry to pet Zayn’s arms with a compassionate look.

Harry took in one last deep breath before sighing and brushing his pants off as he got up.

“Where are you going?”

Niall’s small voice had him returning his attention the man engulfed inside Zayn’s limbs.

“I assume you have a lab, right?” Harry said. Niall nodded. “I’m gonna need you to hand over the key to it and the one to your house. I’ll talk to your boss about letting you go early today. You need to go somewhere safe. I don’t want you going back to your house while I sweep it and you have the all-clear.”

“He can go to my apartment. I’ll leave with him,” Zayn provided. Niall went to deny him, but Zayn glared at him into submission.

Harry couldn’t help but feel a bit left out. “I promise, you’ll be going home faster than you think,” he said, holding Niall’s scared look until he handed over his keys. Harry recited his phone number to Zayn in case they needed anything. He started towards the stairs he’d emerged from earlier before remembering one last thing.

Harry took out the bugs that had been in his pockets, staring at them for a second. He proceeded to throw them onto the ground and crushing them with the heel of his brown boot. He looked back at Niall and Zayn’s surprised twin looks. “They’re probably dead already, and if they’re alive I don’t want anyone to know what we’re gonna do,” Harry explained. “Instead, I’m gonna take your hard drives. Better hope there isn’t anything incriminating in them!” Niall groaned playfully and Harry allowed himself a smile.

* * *

Turned out, Niall’s lab was pretty well secured and hadn’t been bugged by anyone other than the NSA. Those guys would never learn.

He went back to Niall’s office expecting it to be empty and instead finding a young girl that he assumed was an intern sitting there, scrolling through her phone and jumping when she heard the door open.

“You’re not Niall,” she observed.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Harry said, confused as to what he was supposed to say in these circumstances. “Were you waiting for him?”

The girl nodded. “He wanted to show me a research paper he thought I might like. He’s so nice.”

Harry then remembered the girl from the hallway that Niall had sent here. Harry grinned to himself at Niall’s quick thinking. “He had to go home, wasn’t feeling well.”

The girl deflated disappointed at the news, then quickly turned worried. “Is he okay? I had the flu last week, was it my fault?”

Harry stared at the girl. “I really doubt it, Miss… I’m sorry, what was your name?”

“Oh, Jade! Jade Thirlwall!”

“Well, Miss Thirlwall, I’ll make sure to pass on your worries to him. I’m just here to pick up some stuff he left behind,” he said easily.

“Are you his boyfriend?” she said before yelping and clamping her mouth shut. “I shouldn’t pry, sorry! It’s just no one sees him with anyone. I just assumed since you’re picking his stuff up…” she grimaced as she let her silence speak for itself.

He was taken aback by her curiosity, though he couldn’t blame her scientific one-track mind. He laughed her off instead. “No, I’m basically his assistant, for the time being.”

The girl then nodded in understanding and went to her feet. “Don’t tell him I asked. He just seemed so lonely, people worry.”

“Of course, you’re a great girl, Jade,” he reassured, and the girl seemed to take that happily.

“Thanks,” she said, blushing as she tucked a strand of her tinted grey hair behind her ear. She brushed past Harry and Harry went to close the door behind her before she pivoted back, remembering something. “Someone came looking for him too. He seemed weird, though, very disappointed in not finding him there. I couldn’t get his name, though.”

Harry froze, not aware of him calling Jade back. “Wait!”

The girl turned again, a surprised expression etched on her face at the urgency in Harry’s tone. He beckoned her to go back inside and she followed suit.

“Did you see who he was?”

She was obviously taken aback and stuttered a bit. “Yeah, I did.”

Harry wanted to fist pump at those words. “Do you think you could point him out for me?”

* * *

After a bit of smirking and flashing his weapon and his badge, the guards let Harry and Jade into the security camera room.

He was further disappointed when he saw that the man, though donning a janitorial uniform, had not shown his face to any camera.

The guy was good.

He knew exactly where the cameras were, thus knew how to avoid having his face seen.

Jade was also incredibly put off by this fact since she’d been the only one spot him. Harry then jumped, asking one of the security guys for a directory of the janitor staff with their pictures.

Unfortunately, this was also a dead end: Jade couldn’t find the man among the dozens of pictures of members of the janitorial staff.

Harry promised Jade they’d find the man and proved it by further cajoling the security staff to let Jade have the entire directory of the people working there.

He gave it to Jade. “It’s very important you find this man, Ms. Thirlwall,” Harry told her. “When you find him, because I know you will, don’t hesitate to call me.” Harry stared the grey-haired girl down in order to communicate the weight of this request and pressed his card onto her dainty hands.

Jade nodded solemnly, took the binder full of faces she perhaps had never seen in the facility, and slipped the card into one of her jean’s pockets.

Harry’s own pocket vibrated and he took out his phone, nodding to himself at Zayn’s assurance that they were safe at his apartment.

Harry left Jade in order to find Niall’s supervisor. His folder had said his name was Dr. Liam Payne.

As he stepped once more into the elevator, he scooted towards a corner of the now-crowded car. He gave himself a moment to sag with relief. He’d gotten to the facility that day and had been active non-stop. Although, it certainly beat sitting around at his LA office. Having Louis Tomlinson breathing down his neck wasn’t his idea of a good time. He liked undercover jobs where he had to infiltrate criminal cells or mobs, extract information, get the bad guys. It made him feel like a spy, like in the movies he’d so admired when he was younger.

Though a relatively light assignment, he didn’t exactly feel like James Bond. It was more like he’d been immersed into an episode of Criminal Minds.

He pushed past a few workers in order to find Payne’s office. After having found Niall’s office empty earlier, he was surprised to find an actual scientist sitting behind his computer. Harry knocked on the door and the man’s youthful brown eyes fell on him.

“Dr. Payne?”

“Oh! Come on in,” he said waving Harry in. “Please, call me Liam.”

Harry shook his firm hand and stayed standing up while Payne plopped back into his chair. “Name’s Harry Styles, I’m the Special Agent assigned to Dr. Horan’s case. I assume you knew of his predicament?”

Payne’s eyebrows shot up, not in surprise, but rather taken aback by Harry’s candor.

“I know of it. I encouraged him to let authorities know of the threats. Didn’t know he’d actually followed through,” Liam said in a level voice that contrasted the more amicable one he’d employed before.

Harry clasped his own hands behind his back.

“I’m just here to inform you that Niall had to go home. A Mr. Zayn Malik took him back to a temporary safe house while I secure his home,” Harry said. It was best to be straightforward.

Liam Payne sat slightly confused behind his glass desk. “This is news to me. Zayn-- I mean, Mr. Malik didn’t tell me he was going to take care of Niall.”

Harry could notice the man’s composure slipping, though he wasn’t certain why. He probably cared for Niall.

“It had come to light that the person of interest in my investigation works in the premises, and Niall wasn’t feeling exactly safe.”

Liam looked alarmed and Harry silently pleaded the man kept his poise. It was so much harder for Harry to keep an unattached air if one of the two supposedly pulled-together parties was silently breaking apart.

“You should call Zayn, he’ll reassure you that they’re safe. However, I’ll ask that you not try to contact Dr. Horan directly for the time being. I won’t divulge any more details on the case, but I’m telling you that we‘re working hard to catch the perpetrator,” Harry firmly said. Liam nodded rather distantly. Harry took this as his cue to leave.

“I’ll be heading out, but hopefully I’ll have something better for you sooner rather than later,” Harry said before giving Liam his card. “Call me if you know or need anything.”

Liam merely let out a hoarse “Yeah,” and Harry left.

The FBI agent stepped once more into Niall’s office. An unwanted shiver ran down his spine at the emptiness of the room. Where once he felt the space was full of Niall’s excitement, it felt as if his anxiety had permeated every surface, every crevice, every inch of the air inside.

Harry rushed to take out Niall’s hard drives, putting them in what appeared to be Niall’s abandoned backpack. When he finished, he locked the office door behind him, relinquishing a shaky breath as he made way towards the parking garage.

* * *

Niall’s home was an ample one-story place, certainly surpassing Harry’s expectations. Given that Niall was only 25, Harry was impressed with the light-blue house. He’d expected the blonde boy had been living in a bachelor’s studio apartment, not an actual house with a garage and a pretty well-kept front garden.

He saw Niall had some recently planted bushes trailing towards the white door. Harry walked towards it, staring at a sunflower potted by the entrance as a smile sneaked onto his face.

The agent took out his iPhone and called Louis while unlocking the door.

As the line rang, Harry took out his bug detector and started sweeping until Louis picked up.

“Harold, how’s Texas?”

Harry rolled his eyes and kept working. “Pretty okay, if it weren’t for, y’know, the stalker out for Dr. Horan’s life.”

“Told you it was serious.”

“Yeah,” Harry said as the bug detecting device beeped behind Niall’s TV only to find the router. “There was a bug in his office,” he continued and Louis cursed.

“Besides the standard ones?”

“Yeah,” Harry confirmed. “The NSA is not going to be happy with my destroying their tech. I’m at his house checking if there are any here.”

“Y’mean his apartment?”

“No, this is an actual house,” he said, stepping over some running shoes. “With a backyard and everything.”

Louis hummed appreciatively. “Nialler’s got it good.”

Harry’s device beeped again behind a bookcase and he extricated a bug identical to the one he’d found in Niall’s office. He silently cursed. “Just found another, Louis. I need you to check something for me.”

Louis sighed. “Go ahead.”

Harry examined the bug and put it back down so he could walk to the car and speak normally. “Check out who’s studied or worked with Niall and currently works at NASA, specifically living in the Houston area. Probably near Niall.”

“Ooh, Niall is it?” Louis mocked while jotting down the specs. He stopped when he heard Harry scoff. “Copy that. You want me to send a detail your way?”

Harry thought about that. “No. I don’t want to inflate the stalker’s ego. However, send an escort for Niall at Zayn Malik’s house. Maybe have one cop circling the perimeter or Niall’s house, I don’t want to overwhelm him.”

Louis snickered again mockingly, which just made Harry glare at the house since he was alone. “Shut your mouth, Louis Tomlinson. I didn’t know he was your friend.”

“We were roommates for a year. He was in MIT, and I in Boston University. He helped me with my math requisite,” Harry’s superior replied.

Harry was definitely done with the conversation.

“Let me know when you find something,” Harry said, picking a fly from his sleeve and flicking it away.

“Send Nialler my love,” Louis finished, cutting off the conversation and leaving Harry to deal with the desolate home.

As Harry swept the house for more bugs, he inspected the pictures littering the surfaces and walls of Niall’s home.

He spotted Louis in a couple, the duo smiling to the camera with alcohol in their hands even though they looked underage. There was one with Niall posing in front of an MIT campus building with full graduation regalia. Another image was of Niall with the CERN staff in the Hadron Collider. One of him in his Doctorate gown, proudly holding his diploma with shining eyes.

Though Niall had his diplomas framed in his office, there was a Pirate Certificate from MIT that made Harry laugh. He’d have to ask Niall about that later.

By the time Harry got to Niall’s kitchen, already having cleared Niall’s bedroom, he’d found three bugs in total. Realizing that Niall’s kitchen was also clear, Harry allowed himself to lean against the kitchen island to try and relax. The afternoon light was filtering through the kitchen window, making Niall’s white cabinets seem more yellow and the rest of the house calmer than it should be.

He opened the fridge, noting the numerous magnets littering its doors, and helped himself to a water bottle.

He let the water run down his throat, immediately feeling better. Harry strolled to Niall’s backyard and sat down on one of his beach chairs to dial Zayn’s number.

After the first ring, Zayn answered. “Hey.”

Harry didn’t have time to gather his bearings at the quick response, but he managed to sound human at least. “How’s everything?”

Zayn sighed. “I gave Niall something to help him sleep because he seemed off-kilter. He’s currently napping, but d’you want me to wake him up?”

Harry raked his hand through his brown hair. “I just need to talk to him.”

The other man cleared his throat. “Yeah, just- give me a second.”

Harry heard Zayn softly rousing his friend and an even softer mumbling from Niall’s part that made him feel guilty for waking him up until Niall was slurring a “Hey”.

“Y’know, you have more water and beer in your fridge than you do actual food.”

Niall didn’t respond immediately, humming distractedly before chuckling, his voice heavy and drowsy.

“Your house is clear. A policeman will pick you up there and bring you back. I’m surprised they hadn’t already,” Harry said while playing with the water bottle cap.

“Hm, thanks,” Niall said before yawning. “You must be hungry. You want me to bring a pizza?”

Harry gazed at the orange hues tinging the sky. “It’s okay, I can do that. ‘Sides, you don’t know what I like.”

He leaned back on the lawn chair. A fly buzzed in front of him.

“You don’t know what I like either,” Niall said easily as Harry heard the rustle of Niall getting up from a bed.

“I’m gonna guess you like anything.”

“Don’t like anchovies,” Niall shot back. “Or pineapple for that matter.”

“Me neither, glad we think alike, though I think I just prefer pineapple in any other way that isn’t on a pizza. You know what they say about the fruit.”

Niall snorted but didn’t sound condescending at least. “I don’t know if that's scientifically proven. A good diet, on the other hand,” he said, leaving the rest of the sentence up in the air for Harry to gladly interpret.

“Good thing I was going to order the veggie one then,” Harry replied cheekily.

He had to grin at Niall’s laugh, almost as warm as the sky but not quite. He sounded like he could slip away back to sleep at any given moment in that conversation.

It was easier to be disarmed when you’re distracted and at a distance. However, a disarmed FBI agent was always dangerous situation.

“Text me,” Harry said, clearing tangerine thoughts from his head. “When you’re on the way, that is.”

“I will,” Niall said, and if smiles could be heard through cellphones, Harry would’ve heard Niall’s then, but that was impossible.

“Thank Zayn for me. He’s a good lad.”

“He is. I’ll tell him.”

There was a lull in the conversation that Harry was in no rush to fill but knew it had to come to an end. He pulled back from the need to ask if he was all right, what he was thinking about. Harry silently hoped the invisible vibrations of his phone making way up to a satellite and down to Niall’s ear communicated his completely unprofessional worry.

“Someone’s at the door,” Niall unwittingly interrupted. “It’s the cop, according to Zayn, who’s looking disgruntled by their appearance. This is Texas, y’know, and Zayn’s Muslim. The cop doesn’t look very happy to have babysitting duty right now either.”

“Well, the cop better get over it. It’s more like chauffeuring, or surveillance. Or, y’know, his actual job.”

Niall laughed, conceding Harry his point. “Anyway, I gotta go.”

“Okay, I’ll be seeing you in a few,” Harry said.

He waited to hear one last “Yeah,” from Niall before hanging up. Everything was warmer outside.

* * *

The pizza got to Niall’s house ten minutes after Niall’d arrived and said he’d take a shower, and just 15 minutes after Harry realized the bugs he’d found were dead ends.

He put them in a plastic bag for evidence.

Harry was munching on a slice of pizza in the backyard when Niall emerged from his kitchen with two beers in hand and damp hair.

The man’s almost platinum hair seemed darker with the mix of water and the porch lights.

Niall offered Harry one of the beers, which he declined. “I don't drink on the job.”

Harry gave him a smirk and Niall rolled his eyes. “Sorry I wasn't here to give you a tour of  _ mi casa.” _

Niall sat down on the extra lawn chair in front of Harry. He placed the beers by his feet and leaned forward to grab a piece of pizza.

“No big deal. I was impressed, wouldn't have wanted you to see my shocked expression,” Harry said. An olive from Niall’s piece fell on the ground and Harry retrieved it and threw it away. A lonely ant would be happy tonight.

“The house came with the package. I was offered a teaching position and I used that as leverage,” Niall shrugged between bites.

“Teaching where?”

“I’m pretty sure it was Caltech.”

Harry kicked Niall’s ankle. “No way. Do they accept pirates?”

Niall gave him a puzzled expression.

“The framed certificate.”

“Ah! Yeah, if you finish the archery, sailing, pistol, and fencing classes they give you that.”

Niall laughed, his head shaking at the memory of it.

“You're pretty legit, Dr. Horan.”

Harry saw Niall’s cheeks redden.

“You're pretty cool too,” Niall said, his hand untangling his blond hair.

A pepper fell into Harry’s own hair. Niall laughed and got up to pick it off but Harry waved him away with a frown.

“Would've thought that the FBI maybe had a rule against long hair on their agents.”

“You thought wrong. I have this insured. I’ll sue them if they dare lay one finger on it.”

Niall held up his hands in surrender though his face betrayed amusement.

“Makes you look like a Hollywood star,” Niall said, preferring to look up at the sky than see Harry’s reaction with the swig of his beer. He failed to realize how such a small throwaway comment like that pushed a grin onto Harry’s face that he tried to conceal by throwing the pepper at Niall.

“Then may I say, you don't look like a scientist.”

“Missing the beard, am I?” Niall grinned and Harry laughed.

“Definitely, maybe you can put some chalk all over your pants, start wearing cardigans.”

“You’d like that wouldn't you?”

“Professor chic.”

“It’d make me look older,” Niall reasoned.

“Can't say no to mature men, Niall,” Harry said, fucking winking at him and, what was he even doing?

“You wouldn't be my type,” Niall said with a smirk painted all over his face and Harry was-- Okay.

“No, you like them to be millions of miles away in outer space.”

“Maybe. But, we  _ are _ in outer space.”

Harry stared dryly at Niall, who was still smiling. “Maybe it's because you're out of this world.”

This made Niall groan, but that only developed into loud pained guffaws. This made Harry relax, but that only developed into silently feeling lighter and lighter.

Harry took another slice of pizza.

He checked his phone. No sign of Jade or Louis.

“What are stars made of?”

Niall seemed surprised at the change of subject and blinked. “Really hot gases mostly.”

“Huh.” They ate pizza and stared at the sky as a smattering of stars started becoming visible in the night sky.

“You wanna see something cool?”

Harry looked at Niall. “Are you bringing a mirror so I can see myself?”

“Shut up. Come help me.”

Harry carried Niall’s telescope out of the garage and laid down on the lawn chair while Niall set it up.

He kept sneaking looks at Niall, fascinated by the look of utter concentration on his face as he pressed buttons to calibrate the telescope and bit his lower lip.

He didn’t know what else to do so he pushed the two lawn chairs together and stood next to Niall in silence.

“Stop being so quiet, you’re freaking me out,” Niall muttered without looking up at Harry. He hadn’t known he’d been capable of companionable silence.

So he chuckled a “Sorry” instead.

“Don’t be,” Niall replied with a small grin playing on his face. His eyes flitted over to Harry for about half a second. “Ah, yes, now it’s done.”

The telescope started moving of its own accord, or maybe it was Niall actually controlling it.

Niall leaned down, the small smile growing bigger as he adjusted the lens.

“Have a look,” he said, guiding Harry towards it.

Harry was very aware of the press of Niall’s hands against his shoulders. “What am I looking at?”

Slowly his eyes got into focus and got used to the bright sphere in the lens. “Is that a planet?”

“That’s Venus. Don’t act so surprised,” Niall exclaimed. “We’ve been seeing planets since forever.”

“This is awesome though! Can we look at a star?”

Harry looked back at Niall and he wrinkled his nose before talking. “It’s very hard, since they’re much farther away. They’ll look more like a blurry blob in this telescope than what we know of our own Sun.”

“What about the Moon, can we look at it?”

“We can look it up online, but we have a New Moon. You can’t actually see it.”

“Have you looked at Full Moons though?”

“I have, though I don’t recommend it with this.”

At Harry’s confused look, he sat down and patted down the spot next to him.  

“Think of the telescope as a magnifying glass,” Niall said as Harry laid down next to him, both of them staring at the sky rather than each other. “You remember when you were little, and you could set fire to something by directing the reflection of the Sun with a magnifying glass?” Harry nodded and Niall continued. “Well, the Moon would be doing that to your pretty green eyes.”

Niall grinned at Harry when he looked back. “The Moon is bright because it’s reflecting the light of the Sun. The Moon is the giant magnifying glass. The Sun would be the asshole setting everything on fire.”

“As it does,” Harry said lowly before huffing out a laugh.

“The best way to look at something as beautiful as the Moon would be when it’s between New and Full. People still do it though. They can’t resist the sight of the Full Moon.”

Niall laid down on his own lawn chair beside Harry and he sighed. “It’s been a day.”

Harry had to concur with that. He let the silence engulf them, let it envelop them as the night had so eagerly done.

“Why show me Venus?” Harry finally said.

Niall appeared to come out of his stupor and answered steadily. “Everyone loves Mars because of its color, right? Jupiter because of how big it is, Saturn because of its rings, Uranus because it’s tilted sideways-”

“And because of its name,” Harry interrupted cheekily, only garnering a shoulder shove.

“Shove it, I’m trying to give you a serious answer.”

“Okay, Professor.”

Niall shook his head. “There’s a million reasons I could give you for why I love Venus, but it rotates in the opposite direction relative to the other planets. That’s pretty cool, I guess.”

Harry regarded Niall’s pensive expression, looking for a moment in which he decided the man was actually quite charming and then Niall was looking back and it was like he held the entire universe in his animated eyes and it was unfair and he was so happy and he was leaning down to kiss him.

He was kissing him.

He had his lips pressed to Niall’s and Niall had made a sound of delighted surprise and he pulled back, an apology already rolling over Harry’s tongue and spilling all over Niall.

His eyes were still bright and confused and he was saying, “Harry,” and looking back at Harry and saying “Don’t stop.”

So of course Harry took Niall’s face in his hands and kissed him again.

They were at different paces, Harry taking his time, and Niall being almost inquisitive in the way he nipped and challenged the kisses.

Niall was Venus, contrary to all expectation, and Harry was Mercury, already too close to the Sun.

Harry pulled back gently, taking note of the way their knees were touching and the way Niall’s fingertips skimmed Harry’s face, as he would a serene body of water that shouldn’t be disturbed.

“Niall,” he whispered, letting the night take hold of his words.

Niall only slightly looked up at Harry, preferring to stare at the outline of the lips he’d just been enjoying with an impossible smile. “Yes, pet?”

Harry blinked. The term of endearment rattled around Harry’s brain until it produced a mirroring grin in response.

“You’ve got dimples,” Niall commented mostly distracted. “Who knew? Dimples, of all things. I’m going to have to call Tommo and file a complaint. FBI agents shouldn’t have dimples.”

Harry caught his hands and let his mouth skim over Niall’s pale knuckles.

“Yeah well, physics prodigies shouldn’t have pretty blue eyes,” Harry said. Niall’s eyes, fully amused, at last connected with Harry’s stare. “They make it look like you could hold stars in your eyes.”

“Shut up,” Niall chortled almost whining. “You’re either gonna make me throw up or wanna grab another drink.”

Wanting to ruin the mood as fast as possible, Harry grinned. “You’re swoon-worthy, Niall Horan,” he mumbled against Niall’s hands until he snatched them away.

“Don’t let me go,” Harry said morosely.

Again Niall had to laugh. “Relax, I’m only going away to get a beer. You want one?”

“I think I might take you up on that,” Harry said, raising his eyebrows suggestively and making Niall wrinkle his nose in denial.

The door to the kitchen closed behind Niall. Harry was then distracted by the buzz of his phone in his pocket. He sat upright in order to read the incoming message.

It took Harry a few seconds to decipher it had been Jade messaging him.

_ Harry, it’s Jade. His name is Jason Powers and he’s a part of a research team back at work. Here’s a pic: _

The image following the text was of a man with dark hair and scraggly beard. He looked older than Harry or Niall. Had a look that expressed bitterness.

He wasn’t allowed to catch his breath because then his phone was ringing. His heart plummeted at the sight of Louis’ name and his timing. “Hello?”

“Jason Powers,” Louis’ voice said pressingly. “Graduated from UW-Madison, was Niall’s professor at MIT and advisor for a year before the man was kicked out for unknown reasons.”

“Luckily for us,” he continued, “I’m a genius and found out that he’d tried to steal Nialler’s research and another student anonymously complained. Niall didn’t want to do anything to harm Powers but was still sacked.”

“And, he lives just two blocks away from Niall,” Louis said.

Harry inhaled sharply, his hands shaking as he picked up his gun from where he’d left it on the ground beside the lawn chair.

His attention was diverted when he heard a loud shattering of glass from within the blue house.

Harry swore. “Louis, call 911, I’m pretty sure he’s here,” he said in a rush, adrenaline pumping through him as he turned the safety off his gun.

“Stall him,” Louis exclaimed, but Harry was already cutting off the call and throwing his phone into his pocket.

He proceeded to kick into the house. His palms were sweating against the grip of his Glock.

Glass bottle shards were strewn across the entrance to the kitchen and the liquid it used to contain spilled out of the room.

Harry strode into the kitchen, gun held at eye level.

His breath caught in his throat.

Niall was standing in the middle of wreckage. His hands were bloody as glass had cut into them. In Niall’s hands, the leftover necks of the beer bottles he’d used as weapons of self-defense. A male body lay groaning by Niall’s socked feet, blood trickling from his head.

Niall looked shocked with the course of events, just staring at the male he’d attacked.

“Niall?” Harry finally said, lowering his gun but still feeling tense at the sight of the man on the floor.

“I don’t,” Niall started, not knowing what to say. “He was in my- my kitchen. He said he wanted me to pay for what I’d done.” His voice sounded so far away and the strobe lights of a cop car flooded the front of the house.

Harry snuck around the older professor and holstered his gun. “Niall, you’re okay. You’re in shock. He’s not going to harm you and neither will I.” He offered his hands until he reached Niall.

Someone knocked forcefully at the front door. “Houston PD!”

“Niall, I’m gonna open the door, do you wanna come with me and see if the ambulance has arrived? The cops are gonna tell this asshole his rights.”

Niall nodded numbly and Harry grabbed his shoulders, leading him to the front entrance. Harry opened the door, the two policemen shocked to see them Harry calmly opening it and Niall standing there with a panicked expression.

“He’s on the ground, Dr. Horan incapacitated him. I expect you will want to arrest him?”

The men nodded and entered the house. Harry directed Niall outside, where an ambulance was at the ready.

Harry prattled off Niall’s visible wounds and the paramedics immediately ushered Niall away towards their vehicle.

Harry sighed as the policemen shoved the disgraced professor out of the house. He sat down on the curb and shot Zayn a text saying that the man was caught, and then proceeded to call and thank Jade. He warned her that the police would probably interview her and though she’d sounded scared, she swallowed it down and accepted it. She’d do anything to keep Niall safe.

He’d explained his reason to have been there for a second time when Louis called again. “Is Niall safe?”

“Safe as life,” Harry sighed. “He’s being interrogated again. He looks calmer now.”

“Good,” Louis said, the sigh relief evident in his words. “Told you it would be over soon.”

“Yeah, thanks for everything,” Harry said. He could see Niall making his way over to where Harry had been sitting the entire time. He had a shock blanket over his shoulders, even though the shock had clearly passed by him already.

“Your vacations start now. I’ll fill up your paperwork, but go away, fuck someone, get me some grandkids, I don’t care,” Louis said with finality. The storm had passed.

Niall sat next to Harry, observing the people going in and out of his house.

“I’m taking your word for it,” Harry replied.

“Give Niall my love,” Louis said.

Harry looked at Niall. “Louis sends his love and wishes to have your babies.”

Niall’s mouth turned from surprise to adoration to delight. “I’m having my sperm frozen after this,” he said. “And thanks Tommo, love you more,” he said louder to the man hundreds of miles away from them.

Louis snorted. “Doubt it.” And then the conversation was over.

Harry twirled his phone around his hands. “So, I guess my job is over.”

“I guess it is,” Niall observed. “What are you gonna do now?”

“Louis said he’d cover me with the paperwork, but I reckon there’s gonna be more for me to do before I go on vacation.”

“Vacation, huh?” Niall said, a smirk playing on his features.

“I saved a federal agent from a stalker. Before that, I’d retrieved classified information in Budapest. Before that, I’d had countless other assignments that also included filling out paperwork. I’m beat,” Harry said, stretching a bit as if it could relieve the tension he’d been in since he’d last taken a break.

“So you’re taking a break?”

“A sabbatical, if you will,” Harry joked.

“A sabbatical,” Niall nodded, his head someplace else. “That sounds good for me.”

Harry blinked.

“I’m gonna go back to Boston for a while. Rest, get some energy. Maybe travel back to Ireland and visit my family,” Niall explained. “Go to a football game, perhaps. Cheer for the Patriots.”

Harry then laughed. The man had survived an attack in his own home and was already planning to leave. At Niall’s set expression, he knew he wasn’t joking. Harry had to agree, he needed a break too.

“Patriots, you say? I can’t persuade you to cheer for the Packers?”

Niall moaned. “Packers?”

Harry gave him a cheeky grin.

“And here I thought you were cute,” Niall said with a scoff.

“It’s the effect of Mercury in retrograde,” Harry said sagely and bumped shoulders with Niall.

“You’re full of shit, Agent Styles,” Niall said in a deadpan manner.

“Only when sitting next to an intimidating astrophysicist.” Harry smiled to himself. “And he owes me a drink.”

A cop car blared away from them, finally leaving them, and the paramedics were packing up. The stars and planets and cosmos were still gleaming down at them expectantly as Niall looked back at Harry smiling too. “I think I might take you up on that.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> so...? whaddya think? comment or send me a message on tumblr @thearcherballet


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